Fog intensity on rise

Flights delayed, ferries stuck

Hundreds of vehicles got stuck in three kilometer long highway at Daulatdia ferry ghat area as 16 ferry services stranded for 9 hours in the middle of the river due to dense fog blanketed the river bed, causing sufferings to commuters and drivers. This ph

Anisul Islam Noor :Dense fog disrupted flight operations at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka and ferry service on the Paturia-Daulatdia river route on Monday.A flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines on Kuala Lumpur-Dhaka route, scheduled to land at the airport at 6:49am, was diverted to Yangon of Myanmar due to the dense fog, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) sources told The New Nation.The Singapore-Dhaka flight of US-Bangla Airlines, scheduled to land at 7:15am, was diverted to Chittagong, they said.All outbound domestic flights, scheduled to depart in the morning from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, were delayed for two to three hours due to the dense fog.At least 12 flights, three of them domestic airlines, scheduled to leave for different destinations in domestic routes, were delayed, airport sources said."Today (Monday), the first flight departure at the airport took place at 9:50am and arrival at 10:10am," he said.Meanwhile, ferry service on Paturia-Daulatdia route in Padma River resumed on Monday morning after over seven hours of its suspension due to dense fog from 1:45am, Shafiqul Islam, manager (commerce) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) in Daulatdia told the reporter over cell phone.Five ferries with passengers and vehicles were stuck in the middle of the river while five ferries were stranded at Paturia ferry ghat in Manikganj district and six others were anchored at Daulatdia ferry ghat of Rajbari district.More than 700 vehicles were seen lined up in Daulatdia ghat area while 600 were seen lined up at Paturia around 8:00am.Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Since midnight, fog has increased. At 1:45am, the thickness of the fog covered the entire waterways, said Nasir Mohammad Chowdhury, manager of BIWTC Aricha sector.Â Ferry movement was stopped to avoid any untoward incidents, the BIWTC official said.The service will resume after dense fog is cleared, he added.